School-Organisation-Plan-2018-2020

CONTENTS 1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose of the School Organisation Plan 3

2. The Northumberland Context

2.1 School Organisation link to standards and performance 4 in education in Northumberland

2.2 Headline school population data 4

2.3 Schools and academies 5

2.4 Number of pupils on roll in schools and academies 8

3. Duty to provide school places

3.1 Local Authority duties and powers 10

3.2 Challenges in delivering duties 10

3.3 Northumberland and National education policy 10

4. School Place Planning

4.1 Current methodology 12

4.2 Surplus Capacity 12

4.3 School Admissions 15

4.4 Home to School Transport 16

4.5 House building 16

4.6 Inter-partnership and inter-authority movement 17

5. Creating places through capital development

5.1 Principles 18

5.2 Funding 18

5.3 Methods 19

5.4 Partners 19

6. Non-mainstream provision

6.1 Special Educational Needs 20

6.2 Post-16 provision 21

6.3 Early Years provision 21

7. Projections and Place Pressures by School Partnership (planning area)

7.1 Alnwick Partnership 23

7.2 Ashington Partnerships (including NCEA) 25

7.3 Berwick Partnership 27

7.4 Bedlington Partnership 29

7.5 Blyth Partnerships (including Bede) 30

7.6 Coquet Partnership (Amble) 31

7.7 Cramlington Partnership 33

7.8 Haydon Bridge Partnership 35

7.9 Hexham Partnership 37

7.10 Morpeth Partnership 39

7.11 Ponteland Partnership 41

7.12 Prudhoe Partnership 43

7.13 Seaton Valley Partnership 44

Appendices

Appendix 1 - Surplus Places in Northumberland by School Partnership 46

Appendix 2 - Education Infrastructure Contribution Policy 49

Appendix 3 - Capital Projects Data and Information Link

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose of the School Organisation Plan

In its Corporate Plan for 2018/21, Northumberland County Council sets out its vision and values for the county. A key feature of this vision is the desire to ensure that children and young people achieve and realise their potential. At its most basic level, the School Organisation Plan for Northumberland supports this vision by demonstrating how the council will fulfil its statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for children and young people in Northumberland.

However, the plan will also assist schools, parents and partners to understand how the availability of school places across the county are monitored, how the need for school places is identified and where necessary, how additional places are delivered and funded. There is a further challenge in Northumberland in that whilst as a county we have sufficient places, overall they are not necessarily in the areas of greatest demand. So whilst we have a shortfall in places in our urban more highly populated areas, we have significant surplus places in other areas. The School Organisation Plan covers the period 2018/21 in line with the Corporate Plan, but it will be refreshed on an annual basis to reflect updated statistical information and data, as well as any changed circumstances relating to school organisation.

Subject to approval from Cabinet, the draft school organisation plan will be circulated to the following groups for information before publication in July 2018: ● All Northumberland schools ● Diocesan Education authorities ● Neighbouring local authorities ● Relevant healthcare authorities (Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; NHS Northumberland CCG; Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust)

2. THE NORTHUMBERLAND CONTEXT

2.1 School Organisation Plan links to standards and performance in education in Northumberland

Responsibility for the School Organisation Plan lies with the School Organisation and Resources Team within Education and Skills, which in turn forms part of the Wellbeing and Community Health Service in Northumberland. The plan provides an analysis of the current capacity and numbers on roll in Northumberland schools and highlights the work planned to be undertaken to meet any identified need for additional places. As such, the School Organisation Plan supports the Education and Skills Service in delivering the priorities set out in its Service Statement 2018/19 by:

● providing data, information and context to support school organisation initiatives that are planned to have a direct and positive impact on standards and performance in schools; ● identifying and delivering capital projects to provide additional places or enhance the schools estate that will improve the educational experience of children and young people in Northumberland.

The Education and Skills Service Statement for 2018/19 is available to review at http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Education/Schools/Improvement.aspx.

2.2 Headline population data

In Northumberland, 96.7% of the land mass is classed as rural, with just under half of the population living in this area. The other half of the population live mainly in the South East area of the county. In relation to the population itself, the county has an estimated population of 316,000 people in 2018, a relatively static figure since 2014. According to the Office for National Statistics, the county’s population is forecast to increase to around 322,000 by 2039, an increase of 1.2 % (6,000) over a 21 year time period; this contrasts with a forecasted 9.5% increase in the UK population between 2018 and 2041.

However, the number of children and young people aged 0 to 15 living in Northumberland has been slowly but steadily declining for a significant number of years, with circa 57,500 in 2001, 55,000 in 2006 and 52,000 in 2016. The birth rate in Northumberland has also declined slightly by about 0.5% overall between 2007 and 2016, but there is variation at the school partnership level, which is addressed in Section 7, Projections and Place Pressures.

2.3 Schools and academies

As of May 2018 there are 166 schools (not including independents) in Northumberland who currently educate 52,148 children and young people (Jan 2018 census - Nursery to Year 13).

Categories of Schools Schools are classified into two main categories. The first category is academies, these are funded directly by central government, and where the local authority does not have any statutory responsibility. The other category is maintained schools, which are then further split into 4 sub-groups Community, Voluntary Aided (VA), Voluntary Controlled (VC) and Foundation schools. The local authority does have various levels of responsibilities, in relation to school organisation, funding and admission arrangements.

Academies / Free Schools Northumberland currently has 31 academies; these schools get their funding direct from the government, not the local authority. They are run by an academy trust which employs the staff. Some academies have sponsors such as businesses, universities, other schools, faith groups or voluntary groups, and in Northumberland there are currently 10 sponsored academies, 20 converter academies, and 1 free school. We currently do not have any university technical colleges or studio schools.

Maintained Schools Maintained schools are funded by the local authority. Whereas formally they are run (“maintained”) by the local authority, delegation of powers to the Governing Body means that they have many of the same responsibilities and powers as academies. These fall into four main categories:

● Community Schools Community Schools are controlled by the Local Authority and are not influenced by business or religious groups. There are 89 schools in this category in Northumberland.

● Voluntary Controlled Schools Most Voluntary Controlled Schools, but not all, are Church of England Schools; there are currently 11 schools in this category.

● Voluntary Aided Schools These are Foundation Schools with a Religious character and in Northumberland all are Church of England or Roman Catholic Schools. There are currently 31 schools in this category.

● Foundation Schools These are Foundation Schools without a Religious character. Some Foundation Schools acquire a Trust and are known as Trust Schools. The Governing Body owns the building (unless there is a Trust in which case the Trust owns the building and land) and is the formal employer of the staff. There are currently 4 schools in Northumberland in this category.

Numbers and types of Northumberland Schools (not inc. independents) Academy / Foundation Phase Community VA VC Free Total /Trust School

First 36 16 6 1 6 65

Primary 30 13 5 2 8 58

Middle 8 2 0 1 7 18

High (inc All 4 0 0 0 3 7 Through)

Secondary (inc 2 0 0 0 7 9 All Through)

Special 8 0 0 0 0 8

Pupil Referral 1 0 0 0 0 1 Unit

Total 89 31 11 4 31 166

Two schools included in the above table have been approved for closure at the end of the academic year 2017/18 and will close in August 2018; a decision on the proposed closure of a third school will be made in July 2018, also proposed to close in August 2018. Therefore it is expected that there will be 163 schools and academies in the county in September 2018. In Autumn 2014, there were 178 schools and academies in the county, 177 in Autumn 2015 and 175 in Autumn 2016. School closures have taken place in the county over the past four years as follows:

Schools Year/Date Reason for Closure Closure closed of Closure closure proposed by approved by St Cuthbert’s August Unviable due to Governing NCC RCVA First 2014 reducing pupil Body School, numbers Amble Guide Post August Poor Ofsted report NCC NCC Middle 2014 leading to School reorganisation of part of Bedlington Partnership to primary/secondary system. Bothal Middle August Reorganisation of Ashington NCC School 2015 Ashington Learning Partnership to Trust primary/secondary Hirst Park August Reorganisation of Ashington NCC Middle 2015 Ashington Learning School Partnership to Trust primary/secondary system Herdley Bank August Unviable due to Governing NCC Primary 2016 reducing pupil Body School numbers James August Amalgamated with Governing NCC Calvert 2016 James Calvert Body Spence, Spence, Acklington South Road to become Avenue age 9-18 all- (middle) through school Seahouses August Alnwick NCC NCC Middle 2017 Partnership School reorganisation to primary/secondary system The Dukes August Alnwick NCC NCC Middle 2017 Partnership School reorganisation to primary/secondary system Lindisfarne August Alnwick NCC NCC Middle 2017 Partnership School reorganisation to primary/secondary system

St Paul’s August Alnwick Governing NCC RCVA Middle 2017 Partnership Body School reorganisation to primary/secondary system St Benedict’s August Reorganisation of Governing Schools RCVA Middle 2017 Ashington RC Body Adjudicator School schools to primary/secondary system St Peter’s August Reorganisation of Academy Secretary of State Catholic 2017 Cramlington RC Trust Academy schools to primary/secondary system

In September 2017, the first schools in the Ponteland Partnership reorganised to become primary schools, Richard Coates CE Middle School extended its age range to include nursery and primary phases. In August 2019, Richard Coates will become a primary school (removing educational provision in Years 7 and 8) and Ponteland High School will become an age 11 to 18 secondary school.

2.4 Number of pupils on roll in schools and academies in Northumberland

There were a total of 38,027 children and young people of statutory school age (Reception to Year 11) on roll in all types of schools (except independents) in Northumberland as at January 2017. The numbers on roll over the last 3 years have been fairly consistent, with a slightly lower number on roll in January 2016, but around the same level as January 2015. The number includes 2,253 who attend Northumberland schools but reside in neighbouring authorities. The numbers on roll by year group from Reception to Year 11 are given in the following table:

3. DUTY TO PROVIDE SCHOOL PLACES

3.1 Local Authority duties and powers

Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Education and Inspections Act 1996 to ensure there are a sufficient number of school places within its area and that within such provision, parental choice, diversity and fair access are promoted. Within Northumberland, the objective is to ensure sufficient ‘good’ places (as defined by Ofsted) are available for all children and young people residing in the county.

Within this plan, the school places required now and in the future are identified, and the proposed mechanisms for providing these places explained.

3.2 Challenges in delivering duties

The power of local authorities to influence how and where school places are provided within its area has been reducing for a significant number of years as a result of national policies. For example, local authorities have for some time been unable to open their own (community) schools, as every new school opened must now be a free school (effectively an academy).

Schools that are their own admissions authorities (i.e. voluntary aided schools, academies and free schools) are able to increase their Planned Admission Numbers (PAN) without consultation, although they must notify the local authority when they do so. Therefore, one of the key roles of the Council is to maintain good working relationships with and between all types of schools to ensure that there are sufficient good school places available in the right places in the county, while balancing the desire of schools or academies to increase places within their own establishments, parental demand for places in successful schools and the impact of any changes on other schools to ensure a fair system for all.

3.3 Impact of Northumberland and National policies on school place planning

The provision of school places is not only influenced by statutory duties placed on the Council, but also by Northumberland’s local policies and wider national policies.

Government policy in recent years has pushed for the conversion of ever more schools to become academies and as stated, the need for any new school identified by a local authority must be provided as a free school, which will effectively be an academy. Furthermore, where a school is judged to be inadequate by Ofsted, the school must become a sponsored academy, or in some instances, the Secretary of State may order the closure of the school. In the case of a school closure, the local authority would be under a duty to find alternative school places for displaced pupils and to manage any increased home to school transport costs if required. The

11 overall impact of the reducing number of community and voluntary controlled schools in Northumberland means that the local authority’s ability to influence where school places are created is diminishing.

Locally, the new draft Northumberland Local Plan (NLP) document is currently being prepared by the Council. It will include the planning policies that will be used to guide and determine future planning applications in Northumberland, detail the scale and distribution of new developments and include land allocations and designations. The draft Local Plan which will be published for public consultation in Summer 2018 and is currently proposed to be adopted in March 2020. The NLP will assist as an overarching guide to the Council’s potential pupil place planning needs and will be used in conjunction with the detailed housing development information provided by colleagues in planning.

4. SCHOOL PLACE PLANNING

4.1 Current methodology

Forecasting the number of pupil place requirements within any local authority is not an exact science and therefore presents a challenge due to changing demographics in some areas, fluctuating parent preferences and new housing developments. These issues are in addition to the potential for academies and free schools to increase or even decrease (with permission) their available pupil places outside of the control of the Council.

In Northumberland, pupil forecasting is based on data received from the NHS on the number of children registered with GP surgeries. The Council is able to match the postcodes of these children to individual school catchment areas, which provides a reliable indication of how many children are likely to enter schools in Reception classes. Once actual places are taken up within the school system, the year on year transition is assumed.

However, the forecasts are further refined as children move through the system by including a weighting (based on previous trends) at phase change points in the system. For example, as a result of parental preference in some school partnerships additional children may historically enter the middle school phase in Year 5, while in other partnerships, there may be a trend for a proportion of children to leave the partnership at the end of Year 4 and take up places at popular schools in other partnerships. The impact of housebuilding is factored into the final pupil forecast based on a yield of 1 extra primary age pupil and one extra secondary pupil for every 5 houses built.

The Council works with schools and academies when the need for additional places is identified. The DfE collects school capacity and pupil forecasting data annually. This data assists the DfE in allocating the Basic Need capital grant and in policy making.

4.2 Surplus Capacity

The Department for Education (DfE) indicates that 5% surplus places provides sufficient flexibility for parents to exercise a preference for school places. While this may be an achievable target in urban areas of the county, in Northumberland this is considered to be not only unachievable due to the rurality of the county, but equally it would be unreasonable to work towards such a low level of surplus places in rural schools.

Removing surplus places to the level suggested by DfE would necessitate the closure of a significant number of schools, thereby extending the lengths of journey of children, many of whom already have long journeys to and from school, to an unacceptable degree. In addition, this would have a negative impact on the viability of many rural communities. Therefore, while the Council has in the past and will in the future consider proposals for the closure of schools, including rural schools, where there are issues concerning financial viability and/or the quality of educational provision and standards, the removal of surplus places as a stand- alone objective in Northumberland is not considered to be a significant priority. However there has been a reduction in surplus places through wider school reorganisations and through a small number of individual school closures as detailed in section 2.3. This process has removed 1,089 surplus places in the last 4 years. The number of surplus places by phase within each school partnerships is given at Appendix 1 attached to this report.

The following map identifies the level of surplus places in each school partnership as at May 2018.

4.3 School Admissions

By their nature, school admissions arrangements and school place planning are closely linked. The management, consultation and publication of school admission arrangements are a legislative requirement of all Admissions Authorities, including Academies, and guidance is set out in the School Admissions Code 2014.

Northumberland County Council is the Admissions Authority for all community and voluntary controlled schools within the county. One element of legislation, set out in the Admissions Code, is that parents must be able to express a preference for a place for their child at any school, and where a place is available it must be offered, no matter where the child is resident. While this is a benefit to parents, the impact on many particularly rural schools in Northumberland is that they have less reliable annual intakes than urban schools and are more vulnerable to events that impact popularity, such as receiving a very poor Ofsted judgement or a neighbouring school receiving an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted judgement. This in turn can make forecasting at the individual school level more difficult.

Northumberland schools are organised within ‘partnerships’ to ensure a clear pathway through a child and young person’s educational journey from first or primary school, to middle school (in partnerships organised in the 3-tier system) and then to high or secondary school. Each school also has its own catchment area. This is a defined geographical area from which a school will expect to take children. The catchment area of the high or secondary school in any partnership contains all of the feeder school catchments within it and is referred to as the ‘greater catchment area’. The Council’s oversubscription criteria for community and voluntary schools after the allocation of places to pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan and ‘looked after’ children are as follows:

1. Children living within the catchment area of the school. 2. Children with an exceptional social or medical reason that means that they can only attend that specific school 3. Children resident in the greater catchment area of the school partnership who have siblings already in the school and who are expected to be on roll at the school at the time of admission who live within the greater catchment area of the school partnership . 4. Children resident in the greater catchment area of the school partnership who are expected to be on the roll at the school at the time of admission. 5. Children who have a sibling who already attends the school and who is expected to be on roll at the school at the time of admission. 6. Children on whose behalf preferences are expressed on grounds other than those outlined above.

Academies and voluntary aided schools are able to set their own admissions criteria which in some cases differ from the Council’s admissions criteria.

4.4 Home to School Transport

Northumberland County Council is responsible under legislation for the management and funding of home to school transport in the county. Generally, children of statutory school age who meet the criteria in relation to distance to school (ie who live further than 2 miles up to age 8 or 3 miles age 8 and over from their catchment or nearest school or where there is no safe walking route) are provided with transport to their catchment, nearest or nearest faith school where that is a parental preference. Pupils whose parents have expressed a preference for a school that is not their catchment, nearest or nearest faith school (where a place at a particular faith school has been allocated at the parent’s request) will not be eligible for home to school transport. The Local Authority spends £8m per year on fulfilling its statutory duties as set out in its home to school transport. This figure will rise in the next financial year with the introduction of a revised post-16 transport policy which now includes free transport to post 16 learners. Therefore, the policy intention of the Council’s school transport policy is to support children to attend schools in their locality.

4.5 House Building

The provision of quality education is at the heart of sustainable communities and therefore is a fundamental consideration of all new housing developments. Where a new housing development is forecast to create a demand for school places in excess of those available in the catchment area of the development, the local authority will seek an education contribution from developers that reflects the likely costs of the additional places required.

The education contribution is sought under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and is consistent with Northumberland County Council’s obligation to ensure that every child living in the county is able to access a mainstream school place if they want one.

It is accepted that there are limitations on the use of planning obligations and these may only be used where the obligation is:

● Necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms ● Directly related to the development; and ● Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.

If it is found that insufficient school places exist, an appropriate level of contribution will be calculated that takes due account of :

● The size of the development; ● Current and forecast school numbers; ● Likely pupil yield; ● The need to manage capacity and retain some flexibility in the system; ● Local and national information in relation to cost factors for the respective type of pupil places; ● Outstanding developments in the partnership area for which planning permission has already been granted.

Further information is available in the Northumberland County Council Education Infrastructure Policy attached as Appendix 2 of this document.

4.6 Inter-partnership and inter-authority movement of pupils

There has been a historical movement of pupils into and out of certain school partnerships, usually at phase changes, which is factored into pupil forecasting as stated in 4.1. Some of the inward flow into certain partnerships includes pupils from neighbouring local authorities areas e.g. Durham and Newcastle. In 2018, 2235 children that don’t reside in the county are attending a Northumberland school. Although it isn’t the local authorities duty to provide places for out of county pupils, some schools wouldn’t be educationally or financially viable without the inward movement of out of county pupils.

While this movement of pupils in and out of partnerships is generally consistent over time and therefore predictable, certain events such as a school reorganisation can trigger ‘new’ outward and inward flows which must be monitored in order to analyse the impact on the affected schools, adjust forecasting weightings and, if necessary, consider the need for additional places. For example, the reorganisation of the Alnwick Partnership within the last two years to the primary/secondary system has in part led to an increase in pupils leaving the Berwick Partnership through parental choice to join The Duchess’s High School at the end of Year 6.

5. CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT

The Council works with schools and academies collaboratively in order to ensure that sufficient school places for children and young people living in Northumberland are available where a need is identified. Where the provision of additional places is to be met via capital development, the Council applies a number of principles to such projects:

5.1 Principles

● Where relevant, designs include flexibility to allow for curriculum development and delivery and future population growth (‘future-proofing’); ● Collaborating with maintained mainstream schools and academies to provide sufficient places where there is a need; ● Maximising developer contributions to ensure that appropriate investment is made in education infrastructure; ● Working in partnership with contractors to deliver quality construction and efficiency in design and procurement; ● Scheduling significant capital projects to be ready in time to meet need or demand for places; ● Support the public purse by endeavouring to ensure value for money by minimising future liabilities for suitability and maintenance and flexibility; ● Deliver school buildings that will serve local communities for several generations and are designed to be sympathetic to the local area.

5.2 Funding

Capital projects can be funded through a variety of sources depending on circumstances, including whether they are stand alone projects or partnership wide reorganisations. Key funding streams are:

● Section 106 funding from new house building developments; ● Basic Need Grant funding from central government based on identification of need for places in specific schools and partnerships; ● School Condition Allocations from central government; ● Capital contributions from individual school budgets (DFC) or through collaboration with academies that are granted funds from Condition Improvement Funding.

5.3 Methods The Council has approved capital schemes to accommodate additional school places by:

● Extending schools by adding classrooms or reconfiguring existing spaces; where the need for additional places at some schools have been forecast to be permanent and not just a one-off ‘bulge year’, capital schemes have been undertaken to provide classroom extensions or reconfiguration. This has also applied where school reorganisations have taken place, such as Alnwick and Ponteland Partnerships, and additional classrooms have been required to accommodate new Year 5 and Year 6 groups.

● Provision of new buildings; Most recently as part of the reorganisation of the Ponteland Partnership, the option appraisal exercise for provision of accommodation to support the process has identified the provision of new buildings for Ponteland High School and Ponteland Primary School as the most cost effective and educationally preferable route. Although not yet constructed, the buildings will comply with Building Bulletin 103.

5.4 Working with Partners

The Council works with a range of partners to deliver suitable accommodation for additional school places: ● Headteacher and Governing Bodies ● RC and CE dioceses ● Academy trusts ● Regional Schools Commissioner, EFA and DfE ● Town and parish councils ● Housing developers ● Local communities

6. NON-MAINSTREAM PROVISION

6.1 Special Educational Needs

In Northumberland, the number of children and young people who have been diagnosed as having Autism, Social Emotional and Mental Health needs has been increasing. The eight Special Schools in the County have seen numbers rise by 32% between 2013 and 2017, as shown in the following table:

Special School 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Atkinson House 62 53 56 59 66

Barndale House 36 38 40 37 39

Cleaswell Hill 126 149 155 163 173

Collingwood School 105 129 145 137 137

Cramlington Hillcrest 46 56 58 62 74

Hexham Priory 61 65 77 78 89

The Dales School 68 73 76 76 89

The Grove School 36 39 42 43 45

TOTAL 540 602 649 655 712

Northumberland County Council has recently consulted on its Vision and Strategy for children and young people with SEND for 2017 to 2020. In the light of the increasing number of children with SEND in Northumberland, part of this consultation included proposals for growing specialist provision within Northumberland to ensure children with SEND are educated close to home in high quality education establishments in order to inform place planning strategy.

Feedback from consultation indicated that growing local SEND provision is well supported by parents. As a result, 50 special education places are being provided to The Dales School, Blyth at a new satellite site in Ashington, while the Hexham Priory School building will be extended to accommodate a further 32 places. In addition, work is being carried out to identify specific proposals for growing specialist provision for consultation to be undertaken in Autumn 2018 and a project to create Additional Resourced Provision in all parts of the county is underway.

6.2 Post-16 provision

Local authorities are required to ensure that all young people in its area continue in education or training until at least their 18th birthday. The Council has broad duties to encourage, enable and assist young people to participate in education or training. Specifically these are to - ● secure sufficient suitable education and training provision for all young people in our area who are over compulsory school age but under 19 or aged 19 to 25 and an Education and Health Care Plan is maintained. This is a duty under the Education Act 1996. To fulfill this, the Council needs a strategic overview of the provision available in the county and to identify and resolve any gaps in provision; ● provide support that encourages, enables or assists all young people aged 13-19 and between 19 and 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to participate in education or training under section 68 of the Education and Skills Act (ESA) 2008.

In Northumberland, all high and secondary schools and academies have sixth form provision. The council also seeks to support this duty by providing improved accommodation for sixth form students in high and secondary schools e.g. the new building for Ponteland High School will include state of the art accommodation for sixth form.

6.3 Early Years provision

The Council is committed to ensuring that young children can access high quality early education and care in a range of provision in order to create a solid foundation on which to build and go on to succeed at school and in later life. The local market for early years provision is mainly dominated by the private and voluntary sector which varies in provision size, quality and type, although there are a significant number of schools and Children's Centres who equally deliver good quality similar early years provision within the county.

There are 329 settings in Northumberland that deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS ). All schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers must adhere to the EYFS, which sets the standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years old and which they are inspected against. The Council is committed to supporting early years provision across Northumberland.

Early years education and care in Northumberland is delivered via: ● 221 Childminders (of which 115 deliver EYFS) ● 32 Full Day Care 8am-6pm ● 54 Preschool/ playgroups ● 16 Children’s Centres ● 61 Out of School Clubs ● 46 Home Carers ● 2 Creche

Of the above, 98 PVI's and 118 schools deliver the EYFS. The council has recently been successful in bidding for grant funding to expand the number of places available for working parents of 3 and 4 years olds. This grant together with the council own funding will provide an additional 290 places in Blyth, Ashington, Seahouses and Bedlington.

7. SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS (PLANNING AREAS) 7.1 Alnwick Partnership

The Alnwick Partnership reorganised to a primary/secondary structure of education from September 2016, with first schools becoming primaries at that time and The Duchess’s High School extending its age range to become an 11-18 secondary school in September 2017. The reorganisation necessitated the closure of four middle schools in the partnership (Seahouses, Alnwick The Duke’s, Lindisfarne and St Paul’s RCVA Middle Schools). First Schools reorganised in a phased way, retaining Year 4 into Year 5 in September 2016, and then retaining Year 5 into Year 6 in September 2017.

In order to support the reorganisation, circa £14.9m has been invested from the Council’s Medium Term Plan, Schools Capital Investment programme and LCVAP to modify and extend first schools to become primaries and to add a Year 7 and Year 8 block to the new building for The Duchess’s High School at its new site at Greensfield in Alnwick; the latter is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2018. There are now 13 primary schools (including 7 church schools) and the feeder secondary school in the partnership, with 3,294 places in schools (not including sixth form); prior to reorganisation there were 3,552 places in the partnership.

The number of pupils being born in the Alnwick Partnership has been declining slowly over a number of years and the birth data of pre-school children indicates this is likely to continue for the period of the forecast and therefore there will be an increasing level of surplus capacity within the partnership in the primary phase over the coming years. There is a fair amount of movement of pupils around the partnership in relation to schools with parents able to exercise their preference for schools with ease. The Duchess High School however, retains around 89% of the students living in its catchment area, as well as attracting 24% of its students on roll from neighbouring partnerships. The table below demonstrates that the level of capacity in the primary phase is currently sufficient and likely to increase particularly in the coming years. There appears to be a slight shortfall of places in the secondary phase at The Duchess from September 2019; however, these projections include students from neighbouring partnerships moving through the system. There will therefore be enough capacity for the high school, to meet the demands of its catchment area, although parental choice for out of catchment pupils is likely to be reduced.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.2 Ashington Partnerships (including NCEA)

Two school partnerships, the Ashington Partnership and NCEA, serve the closely connected towns and villages of Ashington, Hirst, Newbiggin by the Sea and Lynemouth. For the purposes of managing places in these areas, the pupil data and forecasts for the whole area are combined.

Schools in the NCEA Partnership were reorganised to a primary/secondary system in 2009, while schools in the Ashington Partnership were reorganised as a joint proposal between the Ashington Learning Trust and NCC from September 2015. At the time of reorganisation an additional 45 places were provided in each year group in the primary phase as data was forecasting a demand for additional places. The two Roman Catholic schools in the Ashington Partnership, St Aidan’s RC First School and St Benedict’s RC Middle School, were reorganised by their respective Governing Bodies in September 2017, resulting in the closure of the middle school and the extension of St Aidans to become a primary school

Numbers on roll in the primary phase indicate that, after some decline, they are beginning to grow in the younger age groups. However, there is still sufficient capacity to not require any additional places for the period of the forecast. The primary schools and high schools in the Ashington Partnerships suffer from some drift at the end of Year 4 as many parents choose to send their children to schools in the Morpeth Partnership where there is currently capacity. However, there is a

significant level of house building planned for Morpeth town over the coming period of the forecast and this is expected to yield children who will take up a significant percentage of the current capacity in the Morpeth Schools and will push back children into the neighbouring partnerships, including Ashington.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.3 Berwick Partnership

The Berwick Partnership is organised within the 3-tier system, with Berwick Academy being the feeder high school. Berwick Academy was judged to Require Improvement in January 2016 and has subsequently been judged to be Inadequate in January 2018. The school has had a fall of 13% in student numbers (from 620 to 540) between the January 2017 census and January 2018 census. This is due to a combination of pupils leaving the middle schools in the partnership to join schools in neighbouring partnerships to the south of the catchment and to join the Eyemouth High School in Scotland, which has recently had a new building. The independent school Longridge Towers is also located in the Berwick greater catchment and the Council has historically arranged for children resident on Holy Island to be educated there from middle school age, which means they do not go on to join Berwick Academy in Year 9. Furthermore, St Mary’s CE Middle School in the partnership is proposed for closure to take effect on 31 August 2018 as a result of falling pupil numbers. There are therefore projected to be significantly increasing surplus places in the Berwick Partnership in the secondary phase for the period of this forecast.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.4 Bedlington Partnership

There is a mixed economy of provision in the Bedlington Partnership, with some schools organised as primary/secondary and some remaining within the 3-tier system. Both the recently converted Bedlingtonshire Academy (sponsored) and St Benet Biscop (also located within Bedlington) have two intakes into their schools, at Year 7 and Year 9. Meadowdale Academy (middle) completes the secondary provision in the town. The pupil places available in the partnership at secondary level range from 430 in Years 7 and 8, to 448 for Years 9-11. There is currently sufficient provision within the Bedlington Partnership.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.5 Blyth Partnerships (including Bede)

The Blyth Partnerships include Blyth Partnership and Bede Partnership. Two of the primary schools in Blyth feed to both Blyth Academy and Bede Academy (all- through). Of the nine schools and academies within the partnerships, six are academies.

Birth rates in Blyth are growing in some primary school catchment areas and falling in others, while the house building programmes in the town are beginning to have an impact on numbers coming in at the bottom end of the primary phase. This has led to basic need capital projects to provide an additional 30 places per year group in a phased way at Horton Grange Primary, 30 places per year group in a phased way and 15 places per year group in a phased way at New Delaval Primary.These places are planned to be in place from September 2018. Further expansion plans are being developed with Newsham Primary school to meet the predicted further demand for places.. At secondary level, a significant number of students (around 60%) residing in the Blyth Academy partnership move to either the Bede Academy from Year 7 or to secondary provision in other partnerships e.g. Cramlington Learning Village. It is forecast that there will be no requirement to provide additional places at either Blyth Academy or Bede Academy as a result of the growth in the primary phase as these children move through the system as they will take up the places already available.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.6 Coquet Partnership (Amble)

The Coquet Partnership is organised within the 3-tier system. Available birth data indicates that numbers entering first schools in all catchments in the Coquet Partnership will be maintained over the next four years. Although there is a comparatively significant amount of house building planned within the partnership locally over this forecast period, additional places in schools will not be required due to the 28% of surplus places already in schools

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.7 Cramlington Partnership

Cramlington Partnership was the first in Northumberland to be reorganised to the primary/secondary system in 2007. In the primary phase, there are six community primaries, one church primary and one free school (academy). Cramlington Learning Village is the feeder secondary academy and is a popular choice both within its own greater catchment with around 89% of catchment pupils attending, while around 12% of pupils on roll attend from neighbouring partnerships and from out of county.

Many of the estates in the town are maturing and the birth rate has been decreasing in recent years. Where there is considerable house building taking place, Section 106 agreements are in place to address the predicted shortfall; we envisage that an expansion of Beaconhill Primary will be required as will the provision of a new school to serve the Arcot development site. The timing of these expansions are still to be determined as the this will depend on the housing developers and their build rates.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.8 Haydon Bridge Partnership

Haydon Bridge Partnership has a mixed economy of provision, with primary schools, first schools and middle schools and a first and middle academy all feeding into Haydon Bridge High School. The High School currently has two intakes into Year 7 and into Year 9. Due to a number of organisational and external factors arising concurrently in the partnership, in January to April 2018 the Council carried out informal consultation on proposals to reorganise the remainder of the partnership to the primary/secondary system, which included the possible closure of some schools, including Haydon Bridge High School. The consultation also included proposals for schools in the Hexham Partnership as there were linked issues across both proposals e.g. the destination of pupils on roll at Haydon Bridge High School should the school be approved for closure.

Following consideration of the outcomes of consultation and the organisational factors affecting the partnership, the Council’s Cabinet has approved the publication of a statutory notice proposing the reorganisation of the remainder of the

partnership to a primary/secondary system of organisation, necessitating the closure of Bellingham Middle School with effect from 31 August 2019 and the extension of the age range of the first schools to become primary schools with effect from 1 September 2019. Part of the proposals also include financial and educational support for Haydon Bridge High School and a reduction in its Planned Admission Number, and building capacity, as the school currently has 61% surplus places. The Council’s Cabinet will make a final decision on the statutory proposal in July 2018. If the proposals are approved this would reduce the surplus places in the partnership by 645 places. The viability of the schools, both educationally and financially, will need to be monitored carefully over the next three years to ensure the support programme proposed by the council achieves a sustainable education system for the schools in the Haydon Bridge Partnership.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.9 Hexham Partnership

As referenced at para. 7.8, consultation on proposals for schools in the Hexham Partnership was undertaken jointly with the Haydon Bridge Consultation in the Spring of 2018. Following consideration of the outcomes of consultation, while the Council’s Cabinet decided not to move forward with any of the proposed structural changes to schools, approval was given to develop a cost analysis for the reprovision of buildings for the Hadrian Learning Trust in Hexham (Queen Elizabeth High School and Hexham Middle School). If plans go ahead to build new schools, there is also an opportunity to remove some of the surplus places.

Hexham Partnership has 6 community first schools, 6 voluntary first schools, 1 community middle school, 1 voluntary middle school, and a middle and a high school academy which form the Hadrian Learning Trust. The birth rate in the partnership has been in a steady decline for some years, which enables parents outside of the catchment area to take up places in some of its schools. Therefore, in spite of planned house building there are sufficient places in the Hexham Partnership during this forecast period.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.10 Morpeth Partnership Morpeth Partnership schools are organised within the 3-tier structure; its schools, particularly in Morpeth Town, are some of the most popular in the county and they retain the majority of their catchment pupils, as well as attracting around pupils from neighbouring catchment areas as a result of having surplus places. Overall, in Autumn 2017 there were 4,045 pupils in schools in the greater Morpeth catchment area (all phases). Of these, 48% were 'out of catchment' pupils, however, this includes pupils who live within the greater Morpeth catchment who attend a school that is not there own catchment school, as well as pupils attending from outside of the greater Morpeth catchment. The number of 'out of county' pupils attending Morpeth schools is very small, at around 1.2%. 32% of the students on roll at King Edward VI High School (KEVI) reside outside of the Morpeth Partnership, while 26% of students combined on roll at Chantry and Newminster Middle Schools reside outside of the Morpeth Partnership.

While birth rates have been lower than the capacity of the schools, the influx of children from out of catchment into Morpeth town until more recently has not been problematic. However, in recent years there has been a surge in house building activity in Morpeth town and the surrounding locality which is scheduled to continue for at least the period of this forecast. Over time, it is expected that the pupils yielded from these new houses will take up a significant level of the surplus places and that in terms of population, theoretically there are enough school places in Morpeth schools for children and young people residing in the Morpeth Partnership.

As explained, currently surplus places in the Morpeth town schools are taken up by children and young people from outside of the catchment area. Therefore, children and young people moving into the new houses in Morpeth Town have difficulty in securing a place at a local school, particularly in the middle school phase, where this occurs outside of the normal admissions round. Compounding this situation, is the impact of the 3 Rivers Academy Trust Admissions Policy which gives priority to children who have been in a first school feeder school for at least 2 years for places in the middle schools and priority to children who have been in the middle schools for at least 2 years for places at KEVI in order to preserve educational continuity. The impact of the change in admission arrangements has seen parents residing outside of the Morpeth catchment area applying for places in the Morpeth first schools, rather than waiting until the middle school phase, in order to ensure their children meet the 2 year criterion stipulated within the 3 Rivers Admissions Policy. This has led to fewer places being available for in-catchment children as they move into the partnership area. It is the preference of Northumberland County Council that, outwith looked after children and children with SEN with a school named on an EHCP, priority for school places in local schools should be given to local children so that they may be educated within their own communities, although we don’t have the powers to enforce a change in admission arrangements of academies.

In the short term, there has been a need to create additional places in the middle

phase of the partnerships to accommodate in-catchment children moving into the new housing in Morpeth Town; 30 places will be created at Chantry Middle school in addition to its current PAN of 128 and these will be added to the school in a phased way beginning in September 2018 in Year 5. It may be necessary to temporarily increase numbers at Newminster Middle School at some point in the future as the ‘bulge’ cohorts move through the system. Both middle schools form part of the 3 Rivers Academy Trust, which also includes KEVI, Dr Thomlinson’s CE Middle School, Abbeyfields, Harbottle CE and Thropton First Schools. The Academy Trust has stated that it does not wish to expand KEVI in order to preserve the current educational experience for students. Therefore, over time while it is expected that the number of children attending Morpeth town schools in particular from out of catchment will reduce significantly due to the take up of places by in- catchment children, there will be a bulge in numbers moving through the secondary phase for the foreseeable future, and in practice the PAN at KEVI will be capped at its current level of 320 places therefore reducing the number of out of catchment children. The reduction of places available in the Morpeth Partnership for out of catchment children over time will be beneficial to neighbouring partnerships, particularly in Ashington and Bedlington as they will be able to retain more local children in the schools in those partnerships.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.11 Ponteland Partnership

Ponteland Partnership is in the process of reorganising to a primary/secondary structure in a phased way which began in September 2017 with the change of the first schools to become primary schools. The reorganisation will be completed in September 2019 when Ponteland High School extends its range to become an 11- 18 secondary school. The Council has invested £57m in buildings, including schools and a new leisure centre, to support the school reorganisation and to upgrade community facilities.

Within the partnership, there are now six primary schools (including 2 voluntary schools), an age 3 to 13 school which will become a primary school in September 2019, Ponteland High School (currently age 13 to 18) and Ponteland Community Middle Academy , which is a stand-alone academy. The birth rate in Ponteland Partnership has been declining steadily for a number of years and the capacity in the schools is in excess of 35% of what is required by pupils living within catchment. However, the schools located in Ponteland village are very popular with parents residing out of catchment and out of county, particularly with neighbouring Newcastle parents and therefore the schools have been able to remain viable.

There are sufficient places in the Ponteland Partnership to accommodate in-catchment children and to enable over 40% of out of catchment children to attend the schools in the partnership for the period of the forecast. As in the Morpeth Partnership, numbers coming into the partnership from out of catchment will be controlled by retaining the

PANs at their current level to preserve the educational experience.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.12 Prudhoe Partnership Prudhoe Partnership is organised in the 3-tier system. Eight of the schools in the partnership, including two middle schools, Prudhoe High School and 5 first schools are in the process of converting to become an academy trust, while two of the other first schools became part of the Wise Academy Trust in 2016 and 2017. The RC voluntary school in partnership is part of the St Thomas More Partnership of Schools Academy Trust.

The birth rate in the Prudhoe Partnership has been declining steadily for a number of years. There is a fair amount of inter-partnership movement of pupils as parents are able to exercise their parental choice with ease due to surplus places. There is a small amount of inward movement from out of county pupils, but even with the planned house building in the partnership area, there are sufficient places available in Prudhoe schools to accommodate local need for the period of the forecast. Around 86% of in-catchment pupils attend Prudhoe High School.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

7.13 Seaton Valley Partnership

While pupil numbers overall in the Seaton Valley Partnership have remained more or less stable over a number of years, this masks a change in demographics in relation to individual schools, with the Seaton Delaval area experiencing a growth in the birth rate in recent years, and schools in the Seaton Sluice and Seghill area experiencing a fall in the birth rate.

This has led to the need to provide additional places at Whytrig Middle School from September 2017; the school will increase its Year 5 cohort by 36 places so that it increases its capacity over time. At Seaton Delaval First School, an additional 15 places per year group have been created in a phased way in order to meet the growth in pupils living in the catchment area. However, a significant number of parents in the partnership have been able to exercise their preference for other schools in the partnership than the relevant catchment school and there is currently sufficient capacity to meet demand. As the year groups in Seaton Delaval First School are growing at the bottom end, the need to provide additional places at the school will be reviewed on an annual basis.

Key: PAN - Planned Admission Number

Appendix 1 SURPLUS PLACES BY SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP

Alnwick Partnership (May 2018)

Primary Secondary

Surplus Places 347 186

19% 11% % Surplus Places

Ashington Partnerships (inc NCEA Academy - May 2018)

Primary Secondary

Surplus Places 273 638

13% 17% % Surplus Places

Bedlington Partnership (May 2018)

Primary First Middle Secondary

47 64 Surplus Places 292 245

18% 8% 13% 13% % Surplus Places

Berwick Partnership (May 2018)

Primary Secondary

Surplus Places 479 638

20% 17% % Surplus Places

Blyth Partnerships (inc Bede) (May 2018) Primary Secondary

Surplus Places 181 447

6% 19% % Surplus Places

Coquet Partnership

Primary First Secondary

126 Surplus Places 68 334

50% 19% 31% % Surplus Places

Cramlington Partnership (May 2018)

Primary Secondary

Surplus Places 299 254

11% 11% % Surplus Places

Haydon Bridge Partnership (May 2018)

Primary First Middle Secondary

192 332 Surplus Places 190 545

32% 35% 57% 60% % Surplus Places

Hexham Partnership (May 2018)

Primary First Middle

183 143 Surplus Places 206

15% 14% 10% % Surplus Places

Morpeth Partnership (May 2018)

First Middle High

128 91 Surplus Places 100

8% 7% 7% % Surplus Places

Ponteland Partnership (May 2018)

Primary Middle High

-98 Surplus Places 59 79

3% -19% 7% % Surplus Places

Prudhoe Partnership (May 2018) Primary First Middle High

246 63 Surplus Places -4 191

-3% 22% 7% 21% % Surplus Places

Seaton Valley Partnership (May 2018) First Middle High

122 -31 Surplus Places 123

15% -6% 19% % Surplus Places

Appendix 2

EDUCATION INFRASTRUCTURE CONTRIBUTION POLICY

Northumberland County Council School Organisation and Resources Team County Hall Morpeth NE61 2EF Web : www.northumberland.gov.uk

Document Control

Filename

Version

Status

Author:

Version Date :

Document Revision Information

Version Date Author Description

V 1.0 Sept 2017 B Parvin New Policy

V1.1 Oct 2017 S Aviston updated

Contents

Section Page Number

1. Introduction 1

2. Admissions Policy 2

3. Methodology 6

4. Special Educational Needs 8

5. Other considerations 9

6. Timing of Payments 10

7. Indexation & Review 10

Northumberland County Council Education Infrastructure Contribution Policy

1. Introduction

A contribution will be sort where a school’s actual pupil population is at 95% or more of its maximum capacity, the 5% figure is used by the Council for contingency planning for example to allow for an unexpected influx of new pupils, managing year to year fluctuations in numbers, and consequential impact of parental preference etc.

Due to this impact, without any mitigating education contribution, an objection to the planning application will be made as this will adversely affect the Council’s ability to deliver its statutory services.

It is accepted that there are limitation on the use of planning obligations and these may only be used where the obligation is:

· Necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms · Directly related to the development; and · Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.

Northumberland would also seek to be transparent in relation to both how the proposed obligation is calculated, drawing on key pieces of information already in the public domain. This should assist all parties in being able to assess the likely amount and impact of any obligation at an early stage in the process.

2. Admissions Policy

To this effect the Contribution Policy will be significantly influenced by the Council’s Admissions Policy, in order to decide the appropriate catchment area schools, and whether sufficient capacity exists within them to incorporate the likely numbers of new pupils arising from any new development.

The Council’s Admissions Policy is consistent with the Department for Education’s School Admissions Code, and is contained with the School Admissions Handbook, available online at: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Education/Schools/Admissions.aspx#admissionpolicies

Separate handbooks, containing information on the respective admissions policies are maintained for: · First and Primary Schools; and · Middle, High and Secondary Schools

It must be remembered that it is not necessarily the Council that sets and manages admissions policies, for each school this is set by the respective Admissions Authority. The respective Admissions Authority for each type of school is shown in the table below:

Type of School Admissions Authority

Community Local Authority

Voluntary Controlled Local Authority

Voluntary Aided School Governors

Foundation / Trust School Governors

Academies Academy Trust

Northumberland County Council sets an Admission Policy which is adopted by Community and Voluntary Controlled schools. While we will make every effort to work on a co-ordinated basis with other schools, they are under no obligation to adopt the same policy or use the same criteria, in part or in whole.

Admission Criteria

When a school is oversubscribed (i.e has more applications than places available), the national School Admissions Code requires that priority of admission is given to :

● Children with a Statement of Special Education needs or Education Health and Care (EHC) plan who have the specific school named in the plan; or ● Children who are “looked after” or have previously been “looked after”.

Remaining applications are determined on the basis of set of criteria, of which the next is whether or not a child is resident in, or has firm evidence that they will be living in the catchment area at the admissions date. The relevant catchment area for a school can be checked on Northumberland’s digital mapping service, available at : http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/About/Maps/Digital- maps.aspx#listofalldigitalmappingservicesavailableinnorthumberland

Under this menu, see “Map of Schools”. This shows the county divided by School Catchment area.

An example of this is shown below, for the Coquet / James Calvert Spence College partnership to demonstrate the relationship between primary (red) and secondary (green) catchment areas :

Alternatively the relevant catchment area schools can be identified by entering the relevant postcode on the “My Place” area on the Council home page, at : http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Home.aspx

Having identified the correct schools within the catchment area for the development, it is only these schools that will be used to assess whether there is sufficient school capacity in order to accommodate the likely number of pupils generated by the development, i.e the “pupil yield”.

3. Methodology

In line with the restrictions on the use of planning obligations a contribution will only be sort where there are insufficient school places in the catchment area schools of the development.

If it is found that insufficient school places exist, an appropriate level of contribution will be calculated that takes due account of :

● The size of the development; ● Current and forecast school numbers; ● Likely pupil yield; ● The need to manage capacity and retain some flexibility in the system; ● Local and National information in relation to cost factors for the respective type of pupil places.

Where it is necessary to make assumptions in relation to inform the respective calculation these factors will be subject to annual review, to ensure their ongoing accuracy.

The Council’s need to retain a certain degree of capacity for place planning and management has also already been highlighted and an allowance of 5% will be factored for this purpose.

At the consultation stage in relation to a potential development, the respective schools within the catchment area for the development will be identified, and consideration given as to whether they have sufficient capacity to manage the numbers of new pupils likely to be generated by the development. The current number of pupils attending, compared to the maximum capacity of the school is a key consideration in this respect.

An estimate of the likely is calculated by applying the estimated pupil yield arising in relation to the development. Current data suggests this is just under 3 children per year group for Primary and Secondary education. The specific ratios used are shown in the example calculation table below, and will be reviewed on an annual basis.

For a 500 home development, the anticipated number of new pupils generated would be calculated as follows:

Final No of PUPILS LESS 3% SEN Pupil Phase Yield No of Houses Years (Rounded) (Rounded) Split Primary 0.02714 500 7 95 3 92 Secondary 0.02286 500 5 57 2 55

3% of pupils generated SEN – see Section 4 5 0 5

However, in keeping with the 3 key principles, a charge will only be levied when catchment area schools cannot accommodate the additional anticipated pupil yield.

If additional school places are likely to be required an appropriate charge will be calculated, depending on whether primary or secondary school places are required, up to Year 11 pupils aged 16.

Despite the extension of the mandatory education age to 18, no charge is currently made in relation to post 16 (Year 12 or 13) students because a number of education options may be available, not all of which will necessarily be school based.

The respective primary and secondary contribution per pupil place is calculated by reference to standard area spaces requirements of 6 m2 (primary) and 8m2 (secondary) multiplied by an estimated total build costs per metre. Both the space per individual additional pupil and the space requirements have been identified by reference to the National School Delivery Cost Benchmarking study[1], produced in conjunction with the Department for Education, Infrastructure and Projects Authority and the Local published in Feb 2017 which identifies new development gross costs per m2 in excess of £3,000.

On the basis of both this and comparable local data the figure of £3,000 per m2 will be used as the basis for calculations. Sample calculations for a 500 unit development are shown below, following on from the pupil yield calculations above :

Number Area Gross or Total Contribution Total Phase of Pupils (m2) Cost per m2 Per Pupil (£) Contribution Primary 92 6 £3,000 18,000 1,656,000 Secondary 55 8 £3,000 24,000 1,320,000 Total for Primary and Secondary contribution 2,976,000

The “Total Cost” figure is cost represents the total capital cost of providing the places, not simply a “build cost” and is made up of the following elements:

Build Cost £2,200.00

External £500.00 Works

Professional £150.00 Fees

FF&E £100.00

ICT £50.00

Total £3,000.00

It is consistent with the term “”Gross Cost per m2” used in the National School Delivery Cost Benchmarking study but does not include any element of land purchase costs. If land is required that is not owned by Northumberland County Council, then this can be considered as part of the discussions around the required contribution

4. Special Educational Needs:

It is a fact that approximately 3% of the school age population will have complex Special Educational Needs (SEN), as reflected in both local and national pupil numbers having EHC Plans. This accounts for approximately 1400 school age children in Northumberland. This does not include a wider group of children who do not have EHC plans, but are identified and recorded as needing additional SEN support. Taken together, this accounts for approximately 16% of the school age population.

At the same time Northumberland’s Special Schools are at capacity, with pupil numbers showing 32 % growth over the last five years, as shown in the table below:

Special School 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Atkinson House 62 53 56 59 66

Barndale House 36 38 40 37 39

Cleaswell Hill 126 149 155 163 173

Collingwood School 105 129 145 137 137

Cramlington Hillcrest 46 56 58 62 74

Hexham Priory 61 65 77 78 89

The Dales School 68 73 76 76 89

The Grove School 36 39 42 43 45

TOTAL 540 602 649 655 712

Our maintained special schools are now at capacity. We are also placing children in out of county placements due to a lack of places. The placement costs arising from this is currently estimated as £4 million per year. We also spend over £4 million per year on SEN transport, both within and outside of the county but what this does not take into account are the long travel times and the impact has on our pupils.

In addition, the 2014/15 Ofsted Annual Report highlighted that in areas of Northumberland, pupils may need to travel long distances to access specialist provision (page 62, para 102).

Given that Northumberland’s 8 maintained special schools are all either good or outstanding, the Council is keen to reverse the trend of increasing out of borough placements by increasing the capacity to provide quality SEN education within the county, and enable pupils to be educated within their communities.

An SEN contribution will therefore be requested as part of any Education s106 agreement, reflecting the need to develop the Council’s capacity on a co-ordinated county wide basis.

This contribution will be calculated based specifically on the smaller cohort of pupils with more complex needs requiring EHC Plans, or previously SEN Statements. This will be examined in relation to the Ward for in which the development is proposed, and up to 3 neighbouring wards. On average it is anticipated that 3% of the pupil yield figure will be assumed to have complex SEN requirements as indicated by the requirement for an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan.

Following on from the example of the new 500 unit development shown above, the 5 SEN school places identified would result in the following SEN element within the s106 agreement :

Total Number Area Gross or Total Contribution Contribution Phase of Pupils (m2) Cost per m2 Per Pupil (£) (£) SEN 5 33 £3,000 99,000 495,000

It is also noted that the term SEN covers a wide range of circumstances and requirements. Given that the SEN pupils included in the contribution calculation is now focussed on those with complex needs, the area figure used is drawn from the Department for Educations Building bulletin 104 Area guidelines for SEND and alternative provision. It is accepted that there can be a range of variations, in relation to whether new build, extension or refurbishment, and depending on any economies of scales arising from the size of the development, however these will be used as the basis for calculations, and will remain subject to annual review.

Due to the specific nature of a pupils SEN needs it is not always possible for these to be met from within the school catchment area, so it is anticipated that the Council will request no specifically that there is no geographical restriction as part of the s106 agreement.

5. Other considerations

Given the long term nature of some housing developments, as well as looking at capacity in terms of current school places and actual pupil numbers, it is important to consider potential longer term trends. Key influences in relation to this will be :

Birth data for the catchment area : If there are significant variations in birth data for the catchment area this may impact on pupil numbers.

Other housing developments : within a school catchment area there may be other schemes already under construction, or approved but not yet being built that will affect pupil numbers in future years. When assessing future demand for school places these elements will be considered.

Pupil data : Northumberland County Council receives a range of data in relation to education. Key to this is the school census data collected once a term. Not all of the data is made publicly available due to the factors such as data suppression where small and potentially identifiable numbers are involved (e.g SEN) however Ofsted publish overall school pupil data on a monthly basis, available to the public at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/monthly-management-information- ofsteds-school-inspections-outcomes

Individual School data is available on the “School Level Data” sheet.

6. Timing of Payments

It is understood that the scheduling of payments in relation to the Education Infrastructure contribution will be part of an agreement in relation to the timing of the s106 payments overall. However the position in respect of the Education contribution is that a payment profile will be sought that reflects the Council’s need to deliver the additional school places during the course of the development. To reflect this, the default profile required will be in three equal parts, falling due : -

· On occupation; · After 25% of the approved development’s housing units are complete; and · After 75% of the approved development’s housing units are complete

7. Indexation & Review

Because of the extensive amount of time that can lapse between approval being given and time at which it is payable under the terms of the S106 agreement, the charge shall be index linked and subject to annual review, by reference to the Building Cost Information Services index .

The assumptions used in the calculation of the education contributions shall be reviewed annually to ensure they remain an accurate reflection of the likely costs to be incurred. Given the publication of the National Benchmarking Report in February it is proposed that the figures used are reviewed using the latest available data as at 1st March each year, and adopted from 1st April. Given the adoption of this policy during 2017/18, it is proposed that the first review of the figures will be based on 1 March 2019 data, with a view to adopt any revised assumptions from 1 April 2019 figures.

In order to provide some certainty and stability for potential developers, their advisers and the Council itself, the entire policy shall be reviewed on a 3 yearly cycle, with the first review to be completed by 31 March 2021.

[1] The National School Delivery Cost Benchmarking study, published in February 2017 provides the results of a national cost benchmarking exercise. Funded by the Local Government Association(LGA) information has been shared with the Department for Education and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority